Old Friends
by MollySparrow
Summary: One shot, Post AWE. They can't been anything more than they are...


He had walked into the town looking for rum and instead he had found her.

It was as if they had never been apart, their old banter starting as though they had spoken every day. He enquired whether her son was his; she just told him his memory must be fading along with his looks. She watched him chat to her friends, under the guise of her merchant sailor cousin, being his ever flirtatious self. And she watched her care for her son in the simplest of ways, a hand to hold through the market place or a drink to give in the hot sun, showing him again her selfless nature.

They walked and they talked, those two old friends, until day became night as they sat by a fire on the beach that she had first set foot on 7 years ago….

* * *

Jack stood up from his seat on the beach and unsteadily walked towards their dwindling fire, throwing the last of the wood onto it, causing it to spark back into life temporarily. As he stumbled his way back over to Elizabeth she heard him humming under his breath, his eyes fixed on the ground as he tried his best to walk in a straight line.

"Drink up me hearties yo ho?" she finished for him, ending her remark with a carefree swig of rum.

"Exactly!" He held out a hand to her, bowing low. "Mrs Turner." She placed her hand on his own, noting how his hand felt less rough compared to her own, new callused one.

"Mr Sparrow."

He raised one eyebrow.

"Captain, sorry."

"I thought you said you weren't sorry." Jack shot her a look that was half humorous, half probing as he circled the fire. Elizabeth felt colour rise up her cheeks. Only Jack could make her still feel guilty.

"Captain Sparrow," she changed the subject, "I have a new song I would like you to hear…"

* * *

And so they sang and danced their way through the night, with Elizabeth drinking more than she should and Jack drinking the same as ever, like it had always been.. As the fire died so did their songs, with only the faintest whisper still running through their heads. They had spun out from each other and crashed back together and for one moment it was as though the past 11 years had never been and they were back on that island, that night, just a rambling pirate lord and a beautiful governor's daughter, sharing their thoughts as the sun set.

They found themselves in each others arms, swaying from side to side, Elizabeth's head on Jack's chest. Neither said anything for a long time, both were to transfixed on just _being, _Elizabeth hearing the heartbeat of the ageless pirate so heavily rooted in her life, Jack breathing in the intoxicating smell of the one woman he could never say no to. They loved each other then, wholly and simply, though nothing was said.

"Come with me." Jack whispered later on that night as they lay curled up in each others arms, protective arms of friends who could never be more than what they were.

"Jack, I can't." Elizabeth's mind led her to her son, sleeping at her side. He needed the stability of land and she had to wait for Will. She loved Will. Always had, always would. She needed him.

He didn't look at her then; he simply planted a small kiss on her forehead and smiled.

"I know love; I just wanted to give you a choice." It was then that Elizabeth's heart, one that had taken so many beatings over the years, broke in two.

He had offered her freedom. Nothing has been forced upon her, for the first time in her life she had been given a free choice by the only man who could give it. And for that she would love him until the day she died.

He was her hero. She was his pearl.

* * *

He was gone in the morning like she knew he would be. Jack Sparrow was never one for drawn out goodbyes, a quick exit was more his style. But that didn't mean it didn't hurt when she woke to find no arm around her, no warm breath upon her cheek. She cast her eyes over to her sleeping son. Every inch reminded her of Will, yet today there was something different. Resting on his small form was Jack's hat.

Elizabeth smiled. She knew he would be back, after all Jack would never leave his hat!


End file.
